i am…

“please call me by my true name so i can wake up,”*

i’m a whore i’m a bitch
there’s a whole lot more words
i’m a goddess i’m a Saint
that will break your back

the monks named me Daya
the compassionate one
this compassion breaks my heart daily
a homeless cat
a homeless dog
the homeless
the homelessness

it’s raining today
tears from the sky
bring the maudlin out of me

bring on the sun
sun rays to pierce the heart
this cycle, of recycling
again and again

rain falling
on pink petals
into the ground
a final burial
for my unborn child

genie nakano, 1 .14 .23

*Thich Nhat Hanh

spilling hope . . .

my mind all aglow
i woke up last night
a white page
and pencil in hand
spilling hope, fear and love
          
     
              genie nakano,
                     January 2023

Starlight

my husband had two strokes
sometimes he doesn’t understand
my words
chatter chatter chatter
metaphors are a challenge

it’s hard on me
you have changed, I say
my patience
balancing on a thin wire
I practice walking on clouds

only in darkness
can we see stars shine
welcome the night…

words my husband spoke to me
when we were young

genie nakano







Starlight will be published in Ribbons a tanka Journal in the Spring of 2023, selected by Susan Weaver, editor of Ribbons.


Time… a tanka






my favorite time
to meditate before the dawn
dark
mysterious
eyes open to day
Genie Nakano, 1 . 18 . 23

poetry fest~~new book~~Wings on a Silk Veil

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE. I’M COMING OUT WITH A NEW BOOK ….
Book opening…. April 29, 20023, Sat. 2 – 4 More Later…

Nothings Solid ~~free verse/tanka

Molecules spacing out
Wider, longer, deeper --
into air
light and sound go through me
I am invisible
yet I am here
can you hear me
like the wind
that can't be seen
only it's effects
the rustle of grass
leaves dancing in trees

inside me
a tsunami crashing
white rabbits
frolicking on the foam
nothing is solid


space wider, longer, deeper
I, no longer
a woman, a human
just space spacious space
beyond sky
spacing out...

Genie Nakano
October, 20017

His story…

A long time ago...perhaps 20 years ago
this little hummingbird sat in my dance studio
here is his portrait and story.

I had just finished rehearsing my solo dance when
I heard a little peep, peep.
I thought it was a sound coming from my speakers--
 so I searched and searched --
looked up and there he was sound a sleep.
I climbed on a ladder to get a better look.
I stroked his soft breast -- he wouldn't wake up.
So I offered him water and blueberries and left him alone. 
The next day when I returned -- he was gone.

blessed~~tanka

Photo by Philippe Donn on Pexels.com
blessed 
by a hummingbird
i've
sprouted 
little wings


this was originally a haiku  works better as a tanka...

Mummies and Then They Were Gone, tan-renga at Spillwords.com

Spillwords.com presents: Mummies and Then They Were Gone, tan-renga poem collaboration by Genie Nakano and Dean Okamura.

Source: Mummies and Then They Were Gone, tan-renga at Spillwords.com